The dossier of evidence against the parents of Madeleine McCann was passed yesterday to a judge who will decide whether charges should be brought against the couple, Portuguese prosecutors said.

The public prosecutor in Portimao, Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses, was yesterday given the evidence amassed by police investigators in the four months since Madeleine disappeared from her parents' holiday apartment in the nearby town of Praia da Luz, on the Algarve.

A member of his staff said he had decided to pass the case papers, which run to more than 1,000 pages, straight on to an instructional judge.

On Friday Gerry and Kate McCann were named as official suspects in the investigation; two days later they returned to the UK. They strenuously deny involvement in their daughter's presumed death.

Artur Rego, a local lawyer, said yesterday's move might mean the prosecutor wanted stricter bail conditions imposed on the couple, or fresh searches or more interviews. It was also possible he was recommending charges, although this would be unusual. "It wouldn't be normal unless he had already prepared the case," Mr Rego said.

The attorney general, Henrique Pinto Monteiro, who oversees the prosecutor's office, said officials would examine police findings and announce within 10 days what further steps were to be taken. "The investigation...is not over, and further detective work is required," he said.

The legal moves came amid confusion about the evidence the police are believed to have gathered. Local police have confirmed they are analysing a DNA sample taken from the boot of the car hired by the McCanns 25 days after Madeleine disappeared on May 3. Unnamed police sources were reported as saying that the DNA tests were anywhere from 72% to 100% accurate, but Portugal's chief of police, Alipio Ribeiro, moved to quash speculation.

"Various analyses were received, but none of those tests are that exact [giving 100% certainty] so, in other words, we cannot say blood belongs to person A or person B," he told Portugal's state RTP tele vision station. "They help guide us in our investigation, but not with the mathematical precision some people are saying."

Suggestions that forensic evidence proved the four-year-old's corpse had been placed in the trunk of the silver Renault Scenic hire car were "speculative", he said, adding that results received from the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham were "not as exact as has been suggested by some of the British press".

Yesterday, however, "senior sources" linked to the investigation reportedly told Portuguese journalists that "bodily fluids" - not blood - with an 88% match to Madeleine's profile had been found in the boot of the car. There were also reports about a quantity of Madeleine's hair, described as substantial, also allegedly found in the boot. Neither report has been formally confirmed by the authorities.

Mr McCann meanwhile continued to protest the couple's innocence as the family tried to get used to life back at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, where they returned with their two-year-old twins on Sunday.

"We have absolute confidence that, when all of the facts are presented together, we will be able to demonstrate that we played absolutely no part in Madeleine's abduction," he said on his internet blog. "Kate and I are totally 100% confident in each other's innocence."

The couple have each said that they believe they are being set up. In an interview at the weekend with the Sunday Mirror, Mrs McCann said: "They want me to lie. I am being framed."

Directors of the Find Madeleine Fund were to meet today or tomorrow to decide whether it was legally and ethically acceptable to pay for the McCanns' legal defence with money raised from donations. The directors said they were aware donors may have given money thinking only of the search for Madeleine. Esther McVey, one of the trustees, said: "None of the fund money has been used to fund their defence costs."

The couple have been using top lawyers in Portugal and Britain, including Michael Caplan QC, an expert in extradition law.

"We have appointed solicitors to advise us and assist our Portuguese lawyer in preparing our defence against any possible charges," Mr McCann said. He appeared to deny suggestions that the family would fight any attempt by prosecutors or police to force them back to Portugal. "We had assured them that we will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and of course will return as requested and for our own emotional reasons," he said.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown's spokesman said yesterday the prime minister did not regret having been in contact with the McCann family but added that there was an ongoing police investigation and it would be unwise to say anything more.